


Hinterland

by bjelkemander



Series: The Black Dog [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 08:52:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16761940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bjelkemander/pseuds/bjelkemander
Summary: Asriel and Frisk spend time together. Again.





	Hinterland

You downed the glass of water in a single gulp, sighing heavily as you clicked it back onto the countertop and set the dishwasher program. You and Asriel always tried to split the household chores as evenly as possible; he usually cooked on the weeknights, and you on the weekend. While he was home most of the time to begin with, you had issues with essentially designating him the ‘wife’ of the relationship. You both cared for and supported each other in different ways, and it felt wrong to simply shoehorn him into a domestic role like that.

The slight chill that had come over you subsided as Asriel’s arms slipped under your shoulders, resting lazily around your chest as he nuzzled into the back of your neck. “That was lovely, Frisk.” He said, kissing your cheek gently, sending a shiver down your spine - as much as you loved his touch, being approached from behind always made you super sensitive. Seemingly noticing the tingle, he giggled softly, leaning in to nibble the helix of your ear before withdrawing, rubbing your shoulders gently.

You sighed, but smiled nonetheless. Asriel always became affectionate after a few glasses of wine. The therapist had advised against allowing him to drink alcohol while on medication, but a few glasses of wine every few weeks didn’t seem to do him any harm. He was surprisingly lightweight when it came to alcohol, though - even just a few glasses was enough to turn him into a giggling, flirting mess, liable to end up seated upside-down on the couch or snuggling deep into your side.

Turning toward him, you drew in for a soft kiss, brushing his ear out of his face. He blushed slightly in return, shaking slightly to settle his long, silky ears behind his shoulders. “I might go outside, the fire’s still really strong. Do you maybe... Want to get another bottle of wine?” He asked bashfully, eyes cheekily staring at you as though pleading. You sighed, rolling your eyes slightly as you grinned and leaned in again, pecking his cheek. He giggled slightly in response, returning the favour. “Thanks, Frisk. I’ll go get the blankets out.”

Drying off your hands and heading for the stairway, you took a moment to savour his lingering scent from the close contact. He was a much different goat from the one you’d first met in the depths of the Underground all those years ago, albeit previously in the form of a golden flower. He’d grown tall but not lanky; athletic but not muscular; broad but not imposing. If he were to represent the monsters as a royal, he was certainly making the right impression. He’d grown wiser, stronger, and more mature, while still retaining his spark of childhood wonder and compassion. He was a sweet, gentle goat. Which made it all the more tragic that he had to suffer so much.

You blinked and pushed the thought from your mind. There was no sense in returning to the days of overbearing anxiety over Asriel’s wellbeing, and his course of the new medication the past few weeks had been nothing if not positive. The daytime sleepiness and narcolepsy had all but vanished, and while his behaviour and movements were a little more sluggish, he still retained his sense of humour and kind demeanour. His personality was as bright as ever. He was still the Asriel you loved.

Descending the stairs, you gazed around the great hall that dominated the lower half of the house. As much as Asriel loved to retreat to tight, close quarters when out in public, at home it was quite the opposite - you got the feeling that he liked to be able to see where you were. Turning on your heel as you reached the bottom, you crouched under the stairs and peered into the makeshift cellar - a stack of wire racks that held dozens of bottles of wine. Picking one out - a dry, earthy red; Asriel claimed to ‘hate’ fruity wines - you headed back upstairs and toward the balcony.

You’d bought this house around a year earlier with Asriel. It was based in hinterland of Outer Hope, in the craggy ranges where the ocean breezes began to blow themselves out and the climate became dryer. It wasn’t a huge plot of land, but it was perched on the top of a ridge and faced onto a deep valley of grazing plains and paddocks. Of course, it wasn’t yours, but neither of you needed much. It was a quiet, solitary location; well suited to your aloof personality and Asriel’s desire for isolation.

It all sounded very lonely. But it rarely felt so. You’d never seen Asriel happier than when you first moved in and he realised there was no longer the droning hum of people, machinery and traffic in the background - an inevitable theme of your prior apartment in the city of New Hope. You’d allowed Asriel to start living with you once certain aspects of his personality had begun to manifest, to make sure somebody had an eye on him. The omnipresence of people and noise did awful things to Asriel’s anxiety, however, and you eventually decided to relocate, for his sake. It was a difficult decision, but he was already suffering so much. It really wasn’t much to ensure his comfort.

And it appeared he was comfortable, physically, as well as mentally. He stirred in the blankets as you stepped onto the balcony, sleepily glancing back and smiling at you. “Hey, Frisk... C’mere, sit down.” More than happy to accomodate the goat, you slid over the top of the couch, landing next to him as he shrouded the blanket across you. “Now c’mere...” He murmured, drawing you into his embrace as he sighed and pressed his face against yours.

You both stared out across the plains of the valley, the green fields and pastures of the day now a seemingly endless sea of pitch black, dotted only with the occasional sets of headlights or the warm glow of homesteads. Toward the horizon, the pitch black turned to a deep navy-grey, the light growing more intense as the full moon hovered above the horizon. It lit up the outskirts and tallest towers of New Hope, the city humming dimly on the horizon, seemingly now a world away compared to the hour-or-so drive that it usually took you to reach the inner city of New Hope.

“Dad always used to tell me about the sun, y’know.” Asriel murmured, gently stirring to rest further back in the couch, drawing you into his lap. “He told me one day, we’d pass through the Barrier, and he’d show me the most glorious thing in the world.” Sighing softly, he draped his arms over your shoulders, letting his hands rest together on your chest. “The funny thing is though...” A smile sparked to his face as he spoke, staring toward the horizon. “I think I prefer the moon more.”

Chuckling softly, you reached up to place your hands on Asriel’s, linking a few of your fingers with his. He smiled down at you and withdrew one hand upward, gently stroking your hair. Sighing, he stared skyward, blinking softly as he studied the heavens. “I didn’t think anything could be as beautiful as the crystals in the Underground, either.” You both focused on the stars for a few moments, trying to pick out galaxies and planets and constellations. “There’s just so many of them.” He continued, seemingly entranced by the night. He stared down at you, eyes wide. “And there’s really billions of them I can’t see? Billions of miles away?”

You smiled gently and nodded, squeezing his hand tightly in yours. One of the ironies of Asriel’s return was that despite being one of the only monsters to venture beyond the Barrier before its destruction, there was very little he knew about the Surface itself. He took great delight in having you explain certain sides of the natural world to him, and space was his favourite. When he’d awake at two in the morning and be unable to return to sleep, he would often venture out to the living room and binge-watch astronomy and astrophysics shows. He’d spoken a few times about buying a telescope, and it wasn’t the worst idea - he’d have something to occupy himself, and the sky this far from the city was clear and pristine.

Yawning, Asriel blinked back up at the sky, studying it for a few more seconds before sighing. “Y’know, Frisk, back when I was still... Stuck down there.” He hesitated - he never seemed to enjoy discussing his time as a flower, particularly following the breaking of the Barrier. You preferred to let him keep it with the therapist - at least she knew what to tell him. It was a far more confronting subject than you’d initially realised. “...I never could have thought life could be anything like this.” He choked softly for a moment, seeming like he may tear up. Shaking his head, he stared back down at you, smiling gratefully. “You’ve helped me so much.”

Face warming slightly, you smiled shyly before shrugging into him. You preferred not to discuss that matter either, it always seemed to end with Asriel questioning how he was going to repay you or if there was more he could do around the house to make it up - you simply didn’t like the think of things that way. When you’d first met that scared, sobbing goat boy nearly two decades ago in the Underground, you’d sworn you’d do anything you could to save him from his fate - and, somehow, it appeared he had been. Maybe he had a point. You couldn’t quite believe life had quite turned out this way either.

Leaning in to kiss you softly again, Asriel yawned heavily and squeezed you tightly, gently stroking your hair as he pulled the blanket closer. “I’m tired, Frisk... And the fire’s starting to cool. Do you want to go to bed?” Taking one last moment to savour the time together, you nodded, letting him rise out of the seat as you took his hand and led him toward sleep.


End file.
